On more than one occasion this summer, I've been lured in by the sweet smelling, beautiful rosy hued peach displays at the supermarket and ended up buying way more than three humans could possibly consume. (Admittedly, there are worse problems.) Even though I choose peaches of varying firmness, they all seem to ripen and need to be consumed at exactly the same moment. If left to sit on the counter just minutes past their optimum ripeness, they seem turn into juicy, peachy mush. Overripe peaches definitely don't go to waste in this house but devouring the juicy fruit almost always requires that one stand over the kitchen sink during consumption. Despite my best attempts to get all of the peach juice to drip into the sink, a t-shirt change is usually required after the peach eating experience. I refuse to waste an overripe peach though - I feel like they deserve better. So it's either - eat them over the sink OR turn them into a delicious dessert or appetizer or even a salad! Overripe peaches deserve to be made into a scrumptious peach caprese salad. I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive when I first saw this recipe. I'm a huge caprese fan and I kind of felt like messing with the original tomato, basil, mozzarella combination seemed like caprese blasphemy. (Is that a thing?) It took me a little while to accept that there was a new contender in the caprese salad category but I'm so glad that I did. This peach caprese salad is amazing and I can't make the claim that it's better than the traditional version but I would say that it's equally good. Totally different but equally delicious. Peach Caprese Salad 3 Tablespoons olive oil 1 1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice 1 pound ripe peaches, quartered and sliced into 16 sections 12 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced into 1/4" slices 6 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
Sprinkle with basil and season with salt and pepper. I'm a big fan of Peach Caprese Salad but I'm not convinced that this yummy peach treat should be placed in the "salad" category. I think it makes a great appetizer, a scrumptious lunch or even a fruity dessert. Make this for yourself and let me know what you think.
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I actually copied this recipe for blanched pesto into my blog que over a year ago and by the time I got around to making it, my basil had expired. (That's a nice way of saying that I didn't keep it pruned and I let it go to seed.) I love fresh pesto and I was super excited to try this recipe but it just wasn't cost effective for me to buy the 6 cups of fresh basil leaves that this recipe requires. No one wants to spend 30.00 on a batch of pesto - especially me. Sooo ... I patiently waited 12 months for a new batch of basil to grow and mature and in the meantime, I dreamt about the pesto that I would make with the fresh basil from my garden. My long awaited blanched pesto did not disappoint. This was a such a simple sauce to put together. 5 scrumptious ingredients and a food processor is all it took to create this fresh and flavorful pesto. Blanched Pesto 6 cups fresh basil leaves 2 Tablespoon unsalted sunflower seeds 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon olive oil 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 cup parmesan cheese Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill a second bowl with ice water. Place basil leaves in a metal strainer. Place strainer in pan and use tongs to submerge leaves. Cook 5 seconds. Remove strainer with basil and immediately submerge into ice water. Let stand 10 seconds. Spread basil on towel and gently blot dry. Place basil, sunflower seeds, oil and salt in food processor and pulse until smooth. Add cheese and process until smooth. Cook pasta according to package directions. Toss pesto with warm pasta. I served my pesto with toasted naan bread and a peach caprese salad. I knew that I would love this recipe but I was pleasantly surprised to see how much my family enjoyed this pesto as well. I would categorize them as traditionalists when it comes to pasta sauce but now that I know they are fans of pesto, we can switch up our usual marinara routine from time to time. It's always a good sign when they go in for second and even third helping dinner!!
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